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Abstract

To determine patterns of prescribing in Iranian primary care, we analysed 4000 randomly selected prescriptions from 52 general practitioners [‎GPs]‎ in Babol city during 1999-2000. The mean number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 4.4 +/- 1.7, with 98% prescribed by generic name. The most commonly prescribed items were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [‎62.9% of encounters]‎ and antibiotics [‎61.9%]‎, followed by central nervous system drugs, gastrointestinal tract drugs, corticosteroids, vitamins and cardiovascular system drugs respectively. Injections were prescribed in 58.0% of encounters. Female and male doctors had significantly different antibiotic prescribing patterns. Our study confirms the tendency of GPs to overprescribe